Digital cameras with a multitude of operational features including but not limited to exposure control, white balance, auto focus, etc. have been a consumer staple for decades. As camera complexity has increased, required actions by the user to operate digital cameras have increased.
Most digital cameras have a variety of photography modes that can be selected by the user to control various elements of the image capture process, and the image processing chain. Examples of typical photography modes include smart capture, portrait, sport, landscape, close-up, sunset, backlight, children, bright, self-portrait, night portrait, night landscape, high-ISO and panorama. Various methods have been described to select an appropriate photography mode and control other digital camera functions. Some digital cameras include mechanical dials that can be used to select the photography mode. However, this adds expense to the digital camera and limits the number of choices that can be offered.
In other digital camera models, the photography mode can be selected by navigating a series of menus on a soft-copy display on the back of the digital camera. Often it can be a lengthy process for the user to navigate through several levels of menus to choose the desired photography mode. Then, if the user turns the camera off and back on again, it is generally necessary to repeat those time-consuming steps again in order to return to the same photography mode. This can be a frustrating experience for the user.
In some digital camera models, a photography mode can automatically be selected based on context, such as scene brightness, scene motion. For example, the KODAK EASYSHARE Z915 Digital Camera includes a “Smart Capture” feature which automatically adjusts the camera settings. The camera detects and analyzes scene conditions, and then automatically sets camera settings including exposure, focus and ISO speed based on these conditions. This selection can be convenient, since it does not require user intervention. However, it is limited because the user has no simple way to influence the selection of the photography mode, aside from simply overriding the automatic photography mode selection. Because automatic selection of photographic mode is imperfect, there remains a need for user control, but there is also a need to easily get the camera to operate in a user-selected mode at power-up.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,646,297 to Aaron, entitled “Context-detected auto-mode switching” describes a method for self configuration of a communication device to adjust to the user's environmental circumstances. At predetermined intervals, a suite of environmental sensors integral to the device, which can include a camera, periodically samples the user's environment. A derived set of environmental circumstances may then be compared to mode templates to determine a matching template. The operational settings of the device, such as the audio level and display screen contrast, are changed based on the matching template.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,571,066 to Tsai, entitled “Camera with multimode power button,” describes a method for using the power button to either turn on the camera or to select the camera operation mode. This scheme requires multiple pushes of the power button to first turn on the camera then select the operating mode.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,721,227 to Ronkainen, entitled “Method for describing alternative actions caused by pushing a single button,” describes a user interface for making a choice between two different actions dependent on how long a button is depressed. If the button is released immediately, a first action is taken. If the button is held for a longer period of time, a message is displayed indicating that if the button is continued to be held a second action will be taken. If the button is not released within a specified time interval, the second action is then taken.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,727,830 to Lui, entitled “Time based hardware button for application launch,” teaches the use of a time dependent press of an “application” button to select between various functions. Multiple button presses can also be used to select different functions.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,976,215 to Roderick et al., entitled “Pushbutton user interface with functionality preview,” teaches a user-interface that uses a pressure-sensitive multi-state button. If the button is pushed with a first pressure a preview is provided of the effect that will be produced if the button is pressed using a higher pressure.
These approaches all rely on a user interface to control the selection of a photography mode when the camera is powered on. In some instances, photography of a particular event may occur over an extended period of time, such as during a concert or ceremony, during a day of skiing, or during a soccer game. During such extended events, the camera is likely to be powered down occasionally between shots. This generally requires that the user manually navigate the user interface at each power up to return the digital camera to the appropriate photography mode.
There remains a need for a method to automatically return a digital camera to a previously-selected photography mode while photographing a particular event, without adding the cost of additional buttons or the inconvenience of needing to navigate complex user-interface menus.